Get ready for a hockey matinee.
The Everett Silvertips make a rare appearance, both on a Monday and during daylight hours, when they travel to Spokane to take on the Chiefs at 3 p.m. today in a President’s Day clash.
“It’s a little different,” Everett coach Craig Hartsburg said following Saturday’s game against Moose Jaw. “But it is what it is. We’ll get in there (Sunday) and get ourselves ready to play. I personally don’t mind afternoon games. You get yourself up and get ready to play.”
Both Monday games and afternoon games are rarities for the Tips. Everett had one other afternoon game this season — a Sunday afternoon game in Edmonton on Nov. 1 — and this is the Tips’ only game on Monday.
From a historical standpoint, this is just the fourth Monday regular season game in Everett’s seven-year history. The only other afternoon games Everett has participated in that didn’t occur on a Sunday were on Remembrance Day in Canada: at Kelowna in 2003 and at Brandon in 2004 and 2008.
The Chiefs were behind the decision to play this afternoon President’s Day game. When the league holds its scheduling meeting teams take turns calling opponents in for home games. Spokane just happened to call Everett for this contest.
“I think they’ve done this before in the past,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said about Spokane hosting games on Monday holidays. “It’s like how Brandon always plays the Remembrance Day game at 2 o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon. That’s their call, and if you get called you have to go.”
Two other U.S. Division teams are also hosting President’s Day games today. Portland welcomes Moose Jaw in another afternoon game, while Seattle entertains Vancouver in an evening encounter.
“It’s President’s Day and it’s probably a good idea to have an afternoon game when people are off work and kids are out of school,” Soetaert said. “It gives people something to do on that day. We’ve played them before and I think they’re actually good. Both teams have to play it and there’s no advantage for anybody.
“We’ll get home a lot sooner, that’s for sure.”
And Soetaert sounded open to the possibility of the Tips hosting an afternoon game sometime in the future.
“It’s something we might be able to do here someday, too,” Soetaert said. “We’ll take a look at it, maybe do a kids day or a school day. We’ll talk about it this summer. I know Edmonton does a hockey hooky day and they fill the place with kids, get all the schools to buy kids tickets. It’s not a bad idea.”
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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